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Elevate Family Partnerships in Title V Programs: A Challenge from the AMCHP Board President
December 10, 2025
Dear Director,
My name is Dawn Bailey, and I serve as the current President of AMCHP and have been the Family Delegate for Arizona for the last 11 years. My most important role, however, is being a mom to a young adult with special health care needs.
Over these 11 years, I have had the opportunity to blend my knowledge as a mom navigating a multitude of programs and services with our Title V community to help ensure and promote improvements that truly meet the needs of the communities we serve. So, in this spirit, I am putting out a challenge to all Title V programs to look at the role of the Family Delegate in your State/Jurisdiction. Families play an essential role in state Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programs. Family members may volunteer, advise, and/or be employed by state Title V MCH, and/or Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) programs to bring unique insight and experience to the work. Now, more than ever, we need families as partners, and we have an opportunity to elevate their experience, expertise, and advocacy at the local, state, and national levels.
Family engagement is a key priority for AMCHP and is explicitly called out in our 2022-2027 strategic plan, making the Family Delegate position even more vital. Each Title V program paying dues may designate up to five Delegates who have voting rights, with the fifth delegate seat being held by a family liaison to the Title V program. This delegate is called a ‘Family Delegate’ and is automatically a benefit through your AMCHP membership! In short, AMCHP Family Delegates are voting members of your AMCHP membership delegation, and your program can have 5 voting members if you name a Family Delegate. Currently, we have approximately 35 states/jurisdictions with a designated Family Delegate, and it is our goal to have all 59 by 2027.
We know that some states/jurisdictions may already have a Family Delegate. If that’s you, we hope this challenge prompts you to explore how the role is utilized within your Title V work. And for those states/jurisdictions that haven’t designated a Family Delegate yet, we challenge you to work towards having a Family Delegate. AMCHP has several resources and is here to help you.
Please consider rising to this challenge and having the benefit from all that a Family Delegate can offer. AMCHP will be hosting an invite-only Family Delegate Meeting at the AMCHP Conference in March 2026. We would love to see your new Family Delegate there and hope you can support their attendance!
In Partnership,
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